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Thinkerbell says
Fewer illegal crossings mean ...
Actually, the people you are referring to are LEGAL asylum seekers.
Our most recent immigration law overhaul, Reagan's Immigration Reform and Control Act of 1986, makes it very easy for a person to request asylum (as you may know, Reagan was a YUGE fan of immigrationi).
Once the request has made, the seeker can legally reside in the US until their case is considered. Another aspect of our immigration law makes asylum requests a long process, made longer by huge backlogs. Illegal crossings are minor; legal asylum seeking brings in the numbers.
And, as you surely know, the 2024 Senate Bipartisan immigration reform bill S.4361 would have changed all those 1986 Reagan laws that are so much in need of overhaul. In particular it would have streamlined and sped up asylum decisions. And, as you surely know, tRump exerted considerable pressure to PREVENT even discussion of S.4361.
Fewer illegal crossings mean less drug running; money saved on drug rehab for Americans can be applied to the wall.
DEAD WRONG!!!
According to the conservative Cato Institute,
Fentanyl Is Smuggled for U.S. Citizens By U.S. Citizens, Not Asylum Seekers❖ Fentanyl smuggling is ultimately funded by U.S. consumers who pay for illicit opioids: nearly 99 percent of whom are U.S. citizens.
❖ In 2022, U.S. citizens were 89 percent of convicted fentanyl drug traffickers—12 times greater than convictions of illegal immigrants for the same offense.
❖ In 2023, 93 percent of fentanyl seizures occurred at legal crossing points or interior vehicle checkpoints, not on illegal migration routes, so U.S. citizens (who are subject to less scrutiny) when crossing legally are the best smugglers.
❖ The location of smuggling makes sense because hard drugs at ports of entry are at least 96 percent less likely to be stopped than people crossing illegally between them.
❖ At most, just 0.009 percent of the people arrested by Border Patrol for crossing illegally possessed any fentanyl whatsoever.
❖ The government exacerbated the problem by banning most legal cross-border traffic in 2020 and 2021, accelerating a switch to fentanyl (the easiest-to-conceal drug).
❖ During the travel restrictions, fentanyl seizures at ports quadrupled from fiscal year 2019 to 2021. Fentanyl went from a third of combined heroin and fentanyl seizures to over 90 percent.
❖ Annual deaths from fentanyl nearly doubled from 2019 to 2021 after the government banned most travel (and asylum).
Again, all the above, as well as the paragraphs below, are from the conservative Cato Institute.
https://www.cato.org/blog/fentanyl-smuggled-us-citizens-us-citizens-not-asylum-seekershttps://www.cato.org/blog/us-citizens-were-89-convicted-fentanyl-traffickers-2022
It is monstrous that tens of thousands of people are dying unnecessarily every year from fentanyl. But banning asylum and limiting travel backfired. Reducing deaths requires figuring out the cause, not jumping to blame a group that is not responsible. Instead of attacking immigrants, policymakers should focus on effective solutions that help people at risk of a fentanyl overdose.
U.S. Citizens Bring Fentanyl Through Legal Crossing PointsThat U.S. citizens account for most fentanyl trafficking convictions is not surprising given the location of fentanyl border seizures. In 2023, 93 percent of fentanyl border seizures occurred at legal border crossings and interior vehicle checkpoints (and 91 percent of drug seizures at checkpoints are from U.S. citizens—only 4 percent by “potentially removable” immigrants). In 2022, so far, Border Patrol agents who were not at vehicle checkpoints accounted for just 7 percent of the fentanyl seizures near the border (Figure 2). Of that 7 percent, CBP has testified the majority was seized from vehicle stops, again usually from U.S. citizens. Since it is easier for U.S. citizens to cross legally than noncitizens, it makes sense for fentanyl producers to hire U.S. citizen smugglers.
The DEA reports that criminal organizations “exploit major highway routes for transportation, and the most common method employed involves smuggling illicit drugs through U.S. [ports of entry] in passenger vehicles with concealed compartments or commingled with legitimate goods on tractor-trailers.” Several agencies including CBP, ICE, and DHS intelligence told Congress in May 2022 the same thing: hard drugs come through ports of entry.
P.S. Are you enjoying the YUGE tax increase and consequent market crashing? Are you pleased with the way tRump is fullfilling his promise to lower grocery prices "starting on Day 1"??
